Is it in you?

What is the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor?

A Felony is: a serious crime, like murder, that is punishable by more than one year of imprisonment up to death by execution. A Misdemeanor is: a crime punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by fine, or both.

Felonies- Murder- Rape- Robbery- Burglary- Larceny- Arson- Aggravated Assault

Misdemeanors- DUI- Traffic violations- Vandalism- Petty Theft- Prostitution- Trespassing- Simple Assault

Arrests in the US

RACE

Arrests in the US

SEX

Arrests in the US

AGE

MURDER

The willful killing of one human being by another.

TYPES

1st Degree

2nd Degree

Manslaughter

Types of Murder

-- 1st Degree- defined as an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim.

Example: Dan comes home to find his wife in bed with Victor. Three days later, Dan waits behind a tree near Victor's front door. When Victor comes out of the house, Dan shoots and kills him.

Punishment- life in prison, or the death penalty

Types of Murder

-- 2nd Degree- defined as 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion" or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.

Example: Dan comes home to find his wife in bed with Victor. At a stoplight the next day, Dan sees Victor riding in the passenger seat of a nearby car. Dan pulls out a gun and fires three shots into the car, missing Victor but killing the driver of the car.

Punishment- Any term of years or life in prison

Types of Murder-- Manslaughter- is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.

It is of two kinds:

Voluntary - Upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. Involuntary - In the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death.

Punishment- Voluntary- max of 10 yrs.

Involuntary- max of 6 yrs.

Murder Statistics- Murder accounts for only .12% of arrests in US- Occurs every 33 minutes and 54 seconds on average- Most murders are committed by the use of firearms. (66%)- Most victims were men (78%)

- Approximately 1/3 were acquaintances, while 10% were strangers.

Forcible Rape- Sexual violation of a person by force and against the person’s will

Accounts for: .21% of arrests in the US

46% of arrests were under age of 25

32.7 rapes per 100,000 people in US

Occur every 5 min. 48 sec. on average.

Punishment- Any term of years or life in prison

Statutory Rape-

Makes it unlawful for an adult to engage in sexual intercourse with a person who has not reached the age of consent (usually 18 years of age).

Robbery-

Taking anything of value from a person by using force or the threat of force.

Robbery (con’t)the crime of robbery almost always requires the presence of a victim who suffers actual injury, or is threatened with harm.

Example: Dan approaches Victor from behind, demanding Victor's wallet while pressing a hard object into his back. Fearing that Dan has a gun, Victor gives up his wallet. If Dan did use a gun, or if Victor suffered an injury, the charge would likely be elevated to "armed" or "aggravated" robbery.

Punishment- 3 to 7 years in prison (for most serious offense)

Robbery (con’t)

Accounts for: .94% of all arrests in the US

142.2 per 100,000 people in US

Occurs every 1 minute and 18 seconds on avg.

By weapon:

Firearms continued to be the weapon used most often in the commission of robberies. In 2007, offenders used firearms in 42.1 percent of the robberies reported to the UCR Program. Another 39.9 percent of robberies involved strong-arm tactics—hands, fists, feet, etc.

Robbery (con’t)

Dollar Loss-In 2007, offenders took an estimated $539 million from victims. -Nationwide, the average monetary value of property stolen during a robbery was $1,281.

Banks lost an average of $4,763 for each robbery, and commercial houses (including supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, taverns, finance companies, hotels, motels, etc.) lost an average of $1,676 per robbery offense. The estimated value of losses incurred from robberies of residences averaged $1,340, and robberies on streets/highways averaged a loss of $1,045 per robbery offense. Additionally, losses from gas or service stations and convenience stores averaged $679 and $665, respectively, per robbery.

Robbery (con’t)

-During 2007, a total of 76.9 percent of all persons arrested for robbery were adults

-Further, 61.4 percent of the persons arrested for robbery were under the age of 25.

-The majority of the arrestees, 89.7 percent, were males. -By race, 54.1 percent of persons arrested for robbery were

black, 44.1 percent were white, and 1.7 percent were of other races

Aggravated Assault-

An unlawful attack by one person on another for the purpose of causing great bodily harm.

Accounts for: 3.4% of all arrests in the US

295 assaults per 100,000 people in the US

Occurs every 35 seconds on average.

Most common type of violent crime.

Punishment- varies depending on severity of assault (can b/t 2-4 yrs for serious assaults.)

Does an arrest insure that the crime will be solved?

NO

Of all of the violent crimes that occurred in 2005, only 45.5% were cleared (or solved) by law enforcement officials.